Manifest generation and download systems and methods

ABSTRACT

The present invention is directed to systems and methods to generate a manifest of work that is to be performed by a driver. Specifically, systems and methods are described in the context of a package delivery system to generate a manifest of deliveries and pickups to be performed by a driver and to download the generated manifest to a portable computing device used by the driver to service the route.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to systems and methods to generate andtransmit a manifest of work to a portable computing device that iscarried and used by a driver in his or her route.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A logistics challenge in the package delivery industry and in otherindustries that dispatch drivers to a variety of locations to performwork and/or otherwise service customers is the ability to present adriver with a complete picture of the work to be completed on a givenday. Companies with fleets of vehicles spend vast amounts of time andmoney to develop dispatch plans and driver routes to allow a driver toefficiently cover as much territory in as little time as possible.Unfortunately, the dispatch plan and route that a driver typically usesto service a territory is based not on the actual work assigned to thedriver, but on statistical analysis of the work that is typicallyassigned to a driver on an average day.

The driver's route, then, is not based on his or her work assignments,but on forecasts of what type of workload the driver will typicallyreceive on a given day. This reliance on forecasts and statisticalaveraging of historical data has a number of shortcomings. One problemis that the driver rarely knows what work he or she has actually beenassigned until just before the route begins. In most cases, thedistribution of work between a group of drivers is an ongoing processthat continues until just before the drivers leave a hub facility andbegin servicing their routes. This time crunch at the start of the dayoften results in drivers beginning their routes with an incompletepicture of the work assigned to them.

In the package delivery context, drivers are only minimally involved aspackages are loaded into delivery vehicles. Loading responsibilitygenerally falls to a group known as pre-loaders who have theresponsibility of receiving packages from sortation belts and bins andof loading the packages onto one of a line of delivery vehicles. Becauseof the number of packages and the time required to load a deliveryvehicle, the pre-load process typically starts between 4:00 a.m. and5:00 a.m. and is nearing completion by the time the driver arrives atthe facility. Although some discussion may occur between the drivers andthe pre-loaders, the pre-loaders deal with such a large number ofpackages that they cannot recall specifics about packages loaded onto aparticular delivery vehicle.

As a result, if a driver wants to know what or how much work has beenassigned to his route, he or she must physically examine and sortthrough the packages loaded in the storage area of the vehicle. And if apackage is loaded in the wrong area or if the driver simply misses apackage during this inventory process, a package may go unnoticed untilwell after the driver has passed the point in the route where thepackage should have been delivered. This forces the driver to break fromthe planned route to deliver the package that was missed resulting ininefficiencies in the delivery process.

Another complicating factor in delivery processes that are used today isthe existence of premium service levels and delivery time guarantees.Almost every commercial package carrier now offers some form of premiumservice level that comes with a guarantee that a package will bedelivered by a certain time of day or within a specified time window.These delivery time guarantees complicate the driver's job by requiringthat during the inventory of his or her work assignments for the day,the driver must recognize the work assigned that was assigned to theroute and the packages that have been guaranteed to be delivered by acertain time. Not surprisingly, drivers sometimes fail to identify apackage as having a commit time until after the guaranteed time ofdelivery has passed. In other cases, drivers lose track of time and haveto break from their planned route to satisfy a commit time.

A unsatisfied need therefore exists in the industry for improved systemsand methods of providing drivers with work manifests.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to systems and methods to generate amanifest of work that is to be performed by a driver. Specifically,systems and methods are described in the context of a package deliverysystem to generate a manifest of deliveries and pickups to be performedby a driver and to download the generated manifest to a portablecomputing device used by the driver to service the route.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a system for generating amanifest of work in a package delivery system is described that includesa data capture system that captures shipping label data for packagesthat are bound to a designated geographic location; a work allocationsystem that assigns each of the packages to one of many preexistingdelivery routes from the shipping label data; a manifest generationapplication that monitors the assignment of packages and generates amanifest of work for each delivery route; and a portable computingdevice that receives electronically the manifest of work.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest of work in a package delivery system is described thatincludes a data capture system that captures a service level anddestination address for packages that are delivered within a givengeographic location; a work allocation system that assigns each of thepackages to one of many preexisting delivery routes based on thedestination address and service level; a manifest generation applicationthat monitors the assignment of packages and generates a manifest ofwork for each delivery route; and a portable computing device thatreceives electronically the manifest of work.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest of work in a package delivery system is described thatincludes a data capture system that captures a service level anddestination address for packages that are delivered within a givengeographic location; a work allocation system that assigns each of thepackages to one of many preexisting delivery routes by comparing thedestination address and service level against a dispatch plan; amanifest generation application that monitors the assignment of packagesand generates a manifest of work for each delivery route; and a portablecomputing device that receives electronically the manifest of work.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest of work in a package delivery system is described thatincludes a data capture system that captures a service level anddestination address for packages that are delivered within a givengeographic location; a work allocation system that assigns each of thepackages to one of many preexisting delivery routes by comparing thedestination address and service level against a dispatch plan; amanifest generation application that monitors the assignment of packagesand generates a manifest of work, in the form of a list of locations andsequence of serving those locations, for each delivery route; and aportable computing device that receives electronically the manifest ofwork and displays the work to be performed in accordance with thesequence set out in the manifest.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a package deliverysystem is described that generates a manifest for each of a plurality ofpreexisting routes and downloads the manifests to a plurality ofportable computing devices. As described herein, the package deliverysystem includes a data capture system that captures shipping label datafrom a plurality of packages; a work allocation system that assigns eachof the plurality of packages to one of the preexisting routes based atleast in part on the shipping label data; a manifest generationapplication that generates the manifest for each of the plurality ofpreexisting delivery routes, wherein the manifest includes a list ofpackages that have been assigned to one of the preexisting deliveryroutes; and a route manager that downloads the manifest to the portablecomputing device associated with the one of the preexisting deliveryroutes.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a package deliverysystem is described that generates a manifest for each of a plurality ofpreexisting routes and downloads the manifests to a plurality ofportable computing devices. As described herein, the package deliverysystem includes a data capture system that captures shipping label data,in the form of a destination address for the package and an associatedtarget delivery time, from a plurality of packages; a work allocationsystem that assigns each of the plurality of packages to one of thepreexisting routes based at least in part on the package destinationaddress and target delivery time; a manifest generation application thatgenerates the manifest for each of the plurality of preexisting deliveryroutes, wherein the manifest includes a list of packages that have beenassigned to one of the preexisting delivery routes; and a route managerthat downloads the manifest to the portable computing device associatedwith the one of the preexisting delivery routes.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest that lists one or more units of work that are scheduled to becompleted on a preexisting route for a given day is described thatincludes a data capture system that identifies locations where the oneor more units of work are to be completed; a work allocation system thatassigns each of the units of work to one of a plurality of preexistingroutes based at least in part on the identified locations; a manifestgeneration application that monitors the assignment of the units of workand generates the manifest for each of the plurality of preexistingroutes; and a portable computing device associated with one or more ofthe plurality of preexisting routes that receives the manifest in anelectronic format.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest that lists one or more units of work that are scheduled to becompleted on a preexisting route for a given day is described thatincludes a data capture system that identifies locations where the oneor more units of work are to be completed; a work allocation system thatassigns each of the units of work to one of a plurality of preexistingroutes based at least in part on the identified locations; a manifestgeneration application that monitors the assignment of the units of workand generates the manifest for each of the plurality of preexistingroutes; a portable computing device associated with one or more of theplurality of preexisting routes that receives the manifest in anelectronic format; and a route manager that controls a download of themanifest to the portable computing device.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest that lists one or more units of work that are scheduled to becompleted on a preexisting route for a given day is described thatincludes a data capture system that identifies locations where the oneor more units of work are to be completed; a work allocation system thatassigns each of the units of work to one of a plurality of preexistingroutes based at least in part on the identified locations; a manifestgeneration application that monitors the assignment of the units of workand generates the manifest for each of the plurality of preexistingroutes; and a portable computing device associated with one or more ofthe plurality of preexisting routes that receives the manifest in anelectronic format via wireless transmission.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest that lists one or more units of work that are scheduled to becompleted on a preexisting route for a given day is described thatincludes a data capture system that identifies locations where the oneor more units of work are to be completed; a work allocation system thatassigns each of the units of work to one of a plurality of preexistingroutes based at least in part on the identified locations; a manifestgeneration application that monitors the assignment of the units of workand generates the manifest for each of the plurality of preexistingroutes; and a portable computing device associated with one or more ofthe plurality of preexisting routes that receives the manifest in anelectronic format; and wherein the portable computing device isconfigured to display the manifest to the driver in a sequence that theunits of work are to be completed in accordance with the preexistingroute.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest that lists one or more units of work that are scheduled to becompleted on a preexisting route for a given day is described thatincludes a data capture system that identifies locations where the oneor more units of work are to be completed; a work allocation system thatassigns each of the units of work to one of a plurality of preexistingroutes based at least in part on the identified locations; a manifestgeneration application that monitors the assignment of the units of workand generates the manifest for each of the plurality of preexistingroutes; a portable computing device associated with one or more of theplurality of preexisting routes that receives the manifest in anelectronic format; wherein the portable computing device includes amicroprocessor, a memory, a display, an input device, an I/O interfaceand a clock.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest that lists units of work that are to be completed on one of aplurality of preexisting routes, wherein each of the preexisting routeslists a plurality locations in a geographic area and a predeterminedorder to be used to service the locations, is described and includes: adata capture system that identifies a plurality of locations where theunits of work are to be completed; a work allocation system that assignseach of the units of work to one of a plurality of preexisting routesbased at least in part on the identified location of the unit of work; amanifest generation application that monitors the assignments of each ofthe units of work and generates the manifest for each of the pluralityof preexisting routes; and a portable computing device associated witheach of the preexisting routes that receives the manifest for thepreexisting route to which the portable computing device is associated.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest that lists units of work that are to be completed on one of aplurality of preexisting routes, wherein each of the preexisting routeslists a plurality locations in a geographic area and a predeterminedorder to be used to service the locations, is described and includes: adata capture system that identifies a plurality of locations where theunits of work are to be completed; a work allocation system that assignseach of the units of work to one of a plurality of preexisting routesbased at least in part on the identified location of the unit of work; amanifest generation application that monitors the assignments of each ofthe units of work and generates the manifest for each of the pluralityof preexisting routes; and a portable computing device associated witheach of the preexisting routes that receives the manifest for thepreexisting route to which the portable computing device is associated;wherein further the portable computing device is equipped with a timingdevice that allows it to track an amount of time remaining before theexpiration of a pending time deadline that is associated with one ormore of the units of work.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a system for generatinga manifest that lists units of work that are to be completed on one of aplurality of preexisting routes, wherein each of the preexisting routeslists a plurality locations in a geographic area and a predeterminedorder to be used to service the locations, is described and includes: adata capture system that identifies a plurality of locations where theunits of work are to be completed; a work allocation system that assignseach of the units of work to one of a plurality of preexisting routesbased at least in part on the identified location of the unit of work; amanifest generation application that monitors the assignments of each ofthe units of work and generates the manifest for each of the pluralityof preexisting routes; and a portable computing device associated witheach of the preexisting routes that receives the manifest for thepreexisting route to which the portable computing device is associated;wherein further the portable computing device is equipped with a timingdevice that allows it to track an amount of time remaining before theexpiration of a pending time deadline that is associated with one ormore of the units of work; and wherein further the portable computingdevice is configured to move a unit of work higher in a predeterminedorder if one of the units of work is associated with a time deadline andis within a predetermined range of that deadline.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described the invention in general terms, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a delivery system in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a pre-load assist label (PAL) that contains a packagehandling instruction in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an n-tier architecture of a work allocation engine inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram that illustrates the steps of apre-load process in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 is a process flow diagram that illustrates the steps of selectinga preexisting dispatch plan in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a process flow diagram that illustrates the steps ofinitializing a preexisting dispatch plan and readying the plan forreal-time access in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a process flow diagram that illustrates the steps of capturingpackage data and assigning handling instructions to packages inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a PAL with a handling instruction and a blank PAL inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 shows a manifest download system in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows the steps required to download a manifest to a portablecomputing device in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodimentsof the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied inmany different forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided sothat this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fullyconvey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Likenumbers refer to like elements throughout.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the invention will come tomind to one skilled in the art to which this invention pertains havingthe benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions andthe associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that theinvention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed andthat modifications and other embodiments are intended to be includedwithin the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms areemployed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense onlyand not for purposes of limitation.

The present invention is described below with reference to blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (i.e.,systems) and computer program products according to an embodiment of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively, can be implementedby computer program instructions. These computer program instructionsmay be loaded onto a general purpose computer, special purpose computer,or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine,such that the instructions which execute on the computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus create means for implementing thefunctions specified in the system or flowchart blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrationssupport combinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and programinstruction means for performing the specified functions. It will alsobe understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams andflowchart illustrations, can be implemented by special purposehardware-based computer systems which perform the specified functions orsteps, or combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

A. Pre-Load Process

The following paragraphs describe the present invention in the contextof a package delivery system. But one of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that the systems and processes described below haveapplication to delivery and courier systems outside the package deliveryindustry.

In a package delivery system, the pre-load phase of the delivery processoccurs when packages arrive at a carrier destination facility and areloaded to package cars for delivery to the consignee. Groups ofindividuals, known as pre-loaders, have the responsibility of receivingpackages from a sortation bin or conveyor belt, examining thedestination address on the package and loading the packages onto thepackage car that is responsible for delivering to that destination. In atypical destination facility, multiple package cars are loadedsimultaneously and every one of the package cars has multiple loadpositions. As a result, to load a package, the pre-loader must firstdetermine the correct package car for that package and then decide whereon that package car to load the package.

These known pre-loading processes are largely manual processes thatrequire that pre-loaders commit to memory the correct package car/loadposition combination for the many package destinations they encountereach day. Load charts are often placed at the pre-load site to aid thepre-loaders, but the package volume and time restraints of the processrequire that the pre-loader have an extensive knowledge base of loadpositions to function effectively.

The complexities associated with the pre-load process require that apre-loader receive extensive training. A pre-loader is often asked totrain for six or more weeks to familiarize him or herself with thevarious load positions they are required to memorize. In addition,because the pre-load process is critical to the timely delivery ofpackages, additional time must also be spent supervising the work ofthose fresh out of training. And, notwithstanding this extensivetraining, the nature of the process is such that errors in pre-loadsstill occur.

The reliance on the knowledge-base of the pre-loaders to perform theloading process results in other disadvantages as well. One problem isthat carriers are unable to change the driver routes for fear ofdisrupting the pre-load process. The pre-load process relies so heavilyon information that pre-loaders have committed to memory that any changeto the dispatch plan that changes the loading order can cause majordisruptions and errors in the loads. As a result, carriers are hesitantto change a dispatch plan or a route once the pre-loaders have memorizeda set of load positions. And because the package car and load positionassignments are dependent on the dispatch plan, the driver routes andother dispatch plan variables are rarely changed. Accordingly, driversare forced to use routes that were developed years earlier, many ofwhich are out of date and no longer efficiently serve a territory haschanged in the intervening years.

FIG. 1 shows the various components of a delivery system 10 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In this figure,a work allocation system 20 serves as the central component. The processbegins when the work allocation system 20 receives a dispatch plan 25and uses it to setup a pre-load process. Dispatch plans are well knownin the art and can be produced by any number of well-known dispatchingapplications, among them: Roadnet 5000™, Territory Planner™ andMobilecast™. For purposes of this invention, a dispatch plan can beviewed as simply a segregation of a geographical area or territory intoone or more service provider routes (delivery routes), with each addresson a delivery route assigned a service sequence. The systems and methodsused to generate dispatch plans are known in the art and are outside thescope of this application. The present invention, instead, is directedgenerally to the use of a preexisting dispatch plan in a preload and theuse of the systems and processes described below to generate and delivera manifest of work to drivers.

Some of the components illustrated in FIG. 1 include a data capturesystem 30, a workload monitoring system 40 and a manifest downloadsystem 50. The function of each of these components is described in thefollowing paragraphs.

At the start of a pre-load, the work allocation system 20 retrieves adispatch plan 25 that will be used that day. The dispatch plan 25 isthen forwarded to the work monitoring system 40 where a user is giventhe option of accepting the scheduled dispatch plan 25 or choosinganother plan on which to base the pre-load.

As packages arrive in the pre-load site, the data capture system 30 usesa bar code, radio frequency identification (RFID) tag or other knowndata capture technology to capture the destination addresses and servicelevels of the packages. The package service level and destinationaddress are passed to the work allocation system 20 where a match ismade against the dispatch plan 25 to obtain a handling instruction forthe package. As shown below, the handling instruction provides simple tofollow instructions for the pre-loaders that indicate where the packageshould be loaded. The work allocation system 20 then passes the handlinginstruction information to the data capture system 25 where theinformation is sent to a printer or other label generation device and apre-load assist label (PAL 60) is printed and affixed to the package.

FIG. 2 shows a PAL 60 and illustrates how the handling instructions onthe PAL 60 instruct a pre-loader where to load the particular package.In the illustrated embodiment, the handling instructions on the PAL 60comprise two 4-character identifiers separated by a hyphen. The firstfour characters are used to identify the route or package car, and thesecond four characters identify a load location on the package car.While a single package car is generally associated with one route,handling instructions can of course be generated that associate multipleroutes with a single package car or multiple package cars with a singleroute.

In a preferred embodiment, the handling instruction provides a simpleset of instructions that indicate to a pre-loader where to load thepackage. Preferably, the handling instructions identify the appropriatepackage car and the proper load position on the package car for thatpackage. When properly implemented, the generation and use of thehandling instructions eliminates the need for the pre-loader to commitload positions to memory. As a result, the pre-loader task is greatlysimplified, which in turn offers the carrier or other delivery companygreater flexibility in modifying a dispatch plan without risking adisruption to the pre-load process.

With reference again to FIG. 2, the handling instructions on thisparticular PAL 60 instruct a pre-loader to load the package in position5889 of route R021. With these handling instructions as a guide, thepre-loader identifies which of the three package cars is assigned toroute R021 and places the package on the shelf that is associated withload positions 5000 through 5999. In a preferred embodiment, the loadpositions assigned to each package car are the same for all packagecars. Alternatively, a service provider and/or pre-loader mightcustomize the load position of a package car so that the load positionreflected on the PAL 60 identifies load positions on a unique packagecar or on a unique type of package car.

The PAL 60 can include other package data that is relevant to thesortation and pre-load process. In this example, the PAL 60 includesfields for primary and secondary package sortation information, anirregular drop-off identifier, a DCAP station, a low to high indicator,a commit time, a destination address/consignee name, and a packagetracking number. A primary sort identifier identifies the primary sortbelt that moves the package through the carrier facility and thesecondary sort identifier identifies the secondary belt that moves thepackage from the primary belt to the belt or bin from which the packageis retrieved by the pre-loaders. An irregular drop-off identifieridentifies the location in the building where the package will be placedif it is too large, too heavy or shaped such that it cannot be placed ona sorting belt. In general, packages bearing an irregular drop-offidentifier are sorted manually.

The DCAP field of the PAL 60 associates the package to a particular datacapture workstation in the data capture system 30. The low to highindicator indicates the order in which the package car should be loadedin the package car. In a preferred embodiment, if the low to highindicator is set, packages are loaded sequentially from the lowestnumber in the street range (i.e. 1 Main Street) to the highest number inthe street range (i.e. 10 Main Street). If the low to high indicator isnot set, the packages are loaded from the highest number (10 MainStreet)

FIG. 3 shows an n-tier architecture of a work allocation engine 60operating as part of the work allocation system 30 in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. Microsoft n-tier applications areknown in the art and the work allocation engine 60 adopts thiswell-known architecture. In general, work allocation engine has threelayers: an interface layer, an operations layer and a database accesslayer. The interface layer handles the communication with otherapplications, including, for example, the work monitoring 40 and datacapture systems 30. The operations layer handles the business logic,which in the context of allocating packages to package cars includes theassignment of handling instructions to packages, work measurementcounts, alerts when stop counts exceed predetermined thresholds and thevalidation of add/cut, route creation and route deletion operations.Finally, the database access layer handles the access to one or moredatabases, including databases for storing dispatch plans, routeinformation and package data. In a preferred embodiment, each of theselayers are implemented as Microsoft Transaction Server or Com Pluscomponents.

FIG. 4 is a process flow diagram that illustrates the steps of apre-load process in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. The process starts at the beginning of the day when anoperator selects one of several preexisting dispatch plans 25 that willbe used to perform a pre-load (Step 100).

FIG. 5 is another process flow diagram that further breaks down theprocess of selecting a dispatch plan 25. In Step 101, a user requests ascheduled dispatch plan. In the illustrated process, the user uses thework monitoring system 40 to select the appropriate dispatch plan 25 forthe day. The request is then passed to the work allocation system 20,which, in this embodiment, handles the retrieval of the dispatch plan 25from a database or other plan data storage device. The retrieval of thedispatch plan 25 occurs in Step 102, and in Step 103 the work allocationsystem 20 passes the retrieved dispatch plan 25 to the work monitoringsystem 40. In a preferred embodiment, the user that initiates thepre-load process has access to multiple dispatch plans 25. While onedispatch plan may be scheduled for a given day, the user has the optionof overriding the schedule so that he or she can choose another dispatchplan 25 for the pre-load operation. Giving the user the ability tochange the dispatch plan and pre-load operation to respond to changes instaffing, weather, traffic patterns or other factors that might affectthe delivery process provides a degree of flexibility that is notpresent in delivery systems known in the art. In a preferred embodiment,the work allocation system 20 also includes a cache of backup dispatchplans 25 that are stored locally and are available for use in the eventof a breakdown of the aforementioned process of dispatch plan retrieval.

With reference again to FIG. 4, in Step 110 the work allocationapplication 20 prepares the selected dispatch plan for the real-timeoperation of the pre-load process.

FIG. 6 shows a process flow that illustrates the steps of initializing adispatch plan 25 and readying the plan for real-time access inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. In Step 111, thework monitoring system 40 sends the appropriate instruction to the workallocation system 20 to initialize the selected dispatch plan 25. InStep 112, the dispatch plan 25 is sent to the work allocation system 20where it is decompressed for real-time access. In Step 113, thedecompressed dispatch plan 25 is organized for real-time access andstored locally in a database in the work allocation system 20.

With reference again to FIG. 4, in Step 120 the dispatch plan 25 hasbeen decompressed and the pre-load operation starts. Packages travel viaconveyor belts and/or other sortation devices to the data capture system30, where the packages are scanned and the destination address andservice level of the package is captured. This data is then sent to thework allocation system 20 where the combination of destination addressand service level is used to assign the package to a route and loadposition. The work allocation system 20 then transmits the appropriatehandling instruction back to the data capture system 30 where a PAL 60is generated and affixed to the package.

FIG. 7 shows the process flow of assigning handling instructions topackages. This process is sometimes referred to herein as the scan,print and apply (SPA) process, and includes a process known as exceptionhandling or exception capture. The exception capture process is usedwhen a shipping label or RFID tag of a package cannot be readautomatically. In these instances, the package is transferred to aspecial sortation area where operators attempt to key enter thedestination address and service level based on a physical review of theshipping label.

In Step 121, a bar code, RFID or other data storage device associatedwith a package is read by the data capture system 30 and a packagetracking number is captured. In Step 122, the data capture system 30uses the package tracking number to query a database of package data. Ina package delivery system, this database is populated either byelectronic information received from the entity that shipped the packageor by the carrier using data from an origination scan or paperworkreceived from the shipper. The package tracking number serves as anindex to the database record associated with the package and thedestination address and service level are obtained from the informationsupplied by the shipper.

If the package database has a record related to the package, the processproceeds to Step 123. But if there is no record of the package or if thesystem 30 cannot capture a package tracking number, a MaxiCode symbol onthe package shipping label is scanned. A MaxiCode is a well-knowntwo-dimensional symbology that, depending on whether the MaxiCode iscompressed or not, may include a destination address of the packageencoded in the symbology. The process proceeds to Step 123, if thesystem 30 captures a destination address from the MaxiCode. But if thedestination address again cannot be electronically captured, the datacapture system 30 generates a blank PAL 60.

FIG. 8 shows two PALs 60, including a completed PAL 60 on the top and ablank PAL 60 on the bottom.

The foregoing analysis is primarily described in terms of bar codescanning technology. But one of ordinary skill in the art will recognizethat other data capture technology is known in the art and can be usedwith the present invention. One such example that has been brieflyreferenced above is RFID technology. RFID technology differs from barcode scanning in that it uses radio waves rather than optics to captureand transmit data. RFID is basically a form of labeling where electroniclabels or tags are programmed with unique information and attached toobjects to be identified or tracked. In RFID, electronic chips are usedto store data that can be broadcast via radio waves to a reader,eliminating the need for a direct line of sight and making it possiblefor tags to be placed anywhere on or in a package. Additional benefitsof RFID are the greater data storage capacity of the RFID tag incomparison to the bar code and a decreased likelihood that the RFID tagwill be destroyed or otherwise made unreadable.

A typical RFID system consists of a reader, a tag and a data processingsystem to process the data read from the tag. The tag also is called atransponder, an expression which is derived from TRANSmitter/resPONDERand, in some cases, the term tag is used for low-frequency (e.g. 125kHz), whereas the term transponder is used for high-frequency (e.g.13.56 MHz and 2.45 GHz) tags. But for purposes of this application theterms tag and transponder are used interchangeably. The complexity ofthe reader (sometimes referred to herein as an interrogator) can varyconsiderably, depending on the type of tag used and the function to befulfilled. In general, a reader has radio circuitry to communicate witha tag, a microprocessor to check and decode the data and implement aprotocol, a memory to store data and one or more antennas to receive thesignal.

Unlike a bar code reader, which is limited to reading a single bar codeat a time, a RFID reader may have more than one tag in its interrogationzone. The interrogation zone, as that term is used herein, refers to thearea covered by the magnetic field generated by the reader's antenna.The process of reading a number of transponders within a system'sinterrogation zone is known as batch reading. Software applicationsknown as anticollision algorithms exist that permit a reader to avoiddata collision from several tags that enter the interrogation zone atthe same time. One of three different anticollision techniques isgenerally implemented; these techniques are spatial, frequency and timedomain procedures.

In the spatial domain technique, the reader restricts its interrogationzone in order to reduce the possibility that two different transpondersfall into the area covered by the reader itself. With this technique,the number of readers needed to cover an area increases in proportion tothe size of the covered area. Frequency domain procedures are based onfrequency domain multiplex techniques or spread spectrum technologies.In these systems, the reader broadcasts a status of frequenciesallocated to the communication with the transponders, with frequenciesflagged that are currently in use by a transponder. When a newtransponder accesses the reader's coverage, it uses an unoccupiedfrequency to transmit its data.

Time domain anticollision techniques are divided into two categories:interrogator and transponder driven procedures. In addition,interrogator driven time domain anticollision procedures can besub-divided into polling and binary search procedures. Pollingtechniques make use of the fact that a unique serial number is writtento each transponder at the production stage. In the polling technique,the interrogator requests all possible transponder serial numbers untila transponder with a polled serial number responds. The pollingprocedure is typically slow and generally is limited to processesemploying small numbers of transponders. The other interrogator drivenprocedure is the binary search. A binary search is faster than thepolling technique, and is based on search algorithms that use binarytrees of transponder identifiers. In the transponder drivenanticollision procedures, the transponder, rather than the interrogator,controls the data flow. In general, transponder driven procedures arebased on the cyclic transmission of identifiers by transponders and aredesigned such that it is unlikely that any two transponders will sendthe same identifier at the same time.

Thus, in an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the datacapture system 30 uses RFID technology to capture the necessary packagedata. In such an embodiment, packages are equipped with a RFID packagetag that may be part of, embedded in or distinct from the packageshipping label. Preferably, the RFID package tag has a uniquealphanumeric character string (herein referred to as a RFID identifier)that identifies the package. Because RFID technology is being used,packages do not have to be individually placed on a conveyor belt andinstead may be grouped together, or even stored in mass in a packagecontainer. And because the package tag communicates via a radio signal,the orientation of the package on the conveyor belt is irrelevant.Whereas in a bar code sortation system an operator must manually alignthe packages onto a conveyor belt in preparation for the scan, in anembodiment where RFID technology is used, package movement to theconveyor is more automated.

In an embodiment in which RFID technology is used, a RFID tag is read byan interrogator and a package RFID identifier is captured. In oneembodiment, the RFID identifier has service level and destinationaddress embedded in the RFID data and the process proceeds directly tostep 123. Alternatively, the package tracking number may be obtainedusing RFID technology and used in a query to the package database asdescribed above in connection with a bar code scan.

In the data capture system 30, key entry operators check packages thatare headed to the pre-load area and if a package arrives with a blankPAL 60 then the operator manually reviews the shipping label and triesto key-enter a destination address and service level for the package. Ifthe key-entry attempt succeeds, a new PAL 60 is generated and affixed tothe package. But if the operator cannot obtain a destination address andservice level from the package, the package is marked as an exceptionand sorted to an exception handling area where additional efforts aremade to obtain a valid destination address for the package.

Returning to FIG. 7, in Step 123 the destination address of the packageis validated. Processes for validating addresses against a knownstandard are well-known in the art and details of these processes areoutside the scope of this description. Several standards are commonlyused by entities that perform deliveries, including a zip+4 standardthat is maintained by the United States Postal Service. If thedestination address captured by the data capture system 30 is determinedto be a valid address, the process proceeds to Step 124 and the addressand service level are sent to the work allocation system 20. But if thedestination address is not valid, a blank PAL 60 is generated and thepackage is treated as an exception.

In Step 124, the work allocation system 20 matches the packagedestination address and service level against the dispatch plan 25 andgenerates a handling instruction for the package. If the destinationaddress and service level combination do not match the addresses in thedispatch plan 25, a PAL 60 is printed bearing a NIS (not in system)identifier. In a preferred embodiment, pre-loaders manually loadpackages that bear a NIS identifier on the PAL 60.

In Step 125, the handling instructions are sent from the work allocationsystem 20 to the data capture system 30, which generates a PAL 60containing the instructions and affixes (or otherwise associates) thePAL 60 to the package.

Returning again to FIG. 5, once the handling instruction for a packagehas been determined and a PAL 60 generated and affixed to the packagethe process moves to Step 130 and the package is manifested. In thecontext of a package delivery system, the process of manifesting meansthat the package is added to a particular load manifest. As describedbelow, the loads manifest will ultimately be downloaded via the manifestdownload system 50 to a portable computing device 70 that a serviceprovider carries on his or her route. The manifest stored in thecomputing device 70 thus provides the service provider with a clearpicture of the work to be completed.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the work allocation system20 performs the function of assigning packages to a load and generatingthe manifest. Alternatively, these functions are performed by separateapplications and an application, such as a manifest generationapplication, monitors the assignment of packages and generates themanifest.

The process of downloading the manifest to a portable device 70 isdiscussed in greater detail below. In general, the work allocation 20and work monitoring systems 40 track the packages assigned to each loadand store the assignments in a data structure referred to herein as amanifest or work manifest. Upon receipt of a request for a manifestdownload, the work allocation system 20 retrieves the manifest from adatabase or other storage device where the manifest is stored andtransmits the manifest to the application or device that initiated thedownload request. Either directly from the work monitoring system 20 orindirectly through a route manager (described below), the portablecomputing device 70 receives the manifest from the work allocationsystem 20.

If the pre-load has been completed before the manifest is downloaded,then no additional communication is required. But if the manifest isincomplete, a manifest update will occur. In one embodiment, the workmonitoring system 40 tracks the progress of the pre-load and isconfigured to monitor whether a manifest is changed once the manifesthas been downloaded. Alternatively, the monitoring of the manifest canoccur via one of the work allocation 20 and manifest download systems50. In still another embodiment, a driver must monitor the pre-load andis required to manually download an updated manifest or at least anupdate to a preexisting manifest to capture any last minutes changes tohis or her workload.

In one embodiment, the download of the manifest and/or the updates tothe manifest can occur via direct connection between the portable device70 and the manifest download system 50. But one of ordinary skill in theart will recognize that the portable device 70 can also be equipped witha wireless radio or cellular technology so that the updates to themanifest can occur after the driver has left the pre-load facility andstarted his or her route. An advantage to the wireless approach toupdating the manifest is the ability to add work to a manifest that isreceived sometime after the pre-load process has completed. An exampleof this is a carrier that receives a midday request for a packagepickup. If wireless communication is available to the portable computingdevice 70, a wireless transmission to the portable device 70 can be madeto add the new work to the manifest while the driver is in the middle ofthe route.

B. Manifest Download System

As described above, the manifest of the work assigned to a driver isdownloaded to a portable computing device 70 carried by the driver onhis or her route. Portable devices of this type are known in the art asevidenced by the delivery information acquisition device (DIAD) unitthat UPS drivers have carried since the early 1990's. Since itsintroduction, UPS drivers have used the DIAD unit to collect packageinformation. In the past, package data would be collected and stored inthe DIAD unit while the driver was away from the delivery vehicleservicing their customers. When the driver returned to the vehicle, theDIAD would be placed in a vehicle adapter that facilitated thetransmission of the package data to a central storage facility. Apackage tracking database was then updated with the package data, whichallowed customers to track the movement and delivery of their packagesin the UPS system. More recent versions of the DIAD unit are equippedwith cellular and wireless radios and thereby allow the transmission ofpackage data directly between the DIAD unit and the central storagefacility.

A limitation of known delivery systems is an inability to provide adriver with a clear picture of the work that is assigned to the driveron a given day. While existing DIAD units are capable of uploading alist of all known address along a route, the DIAD unit do not indicatewhich of the addresses are part of the work assigned on a given day. Theonly way that a driver knows what work has been assigned to him or heris to physically sort through the packages in the storage area of thedelivery vehicle.

FIG. 9 illustrates one embodiment of a manifest generation and downloadsystem 50 that downloads a manifest of work to a portable computingdevice 70. This embodiment of the manifest download system 50 includes aplurality of portable computing devices 70, a route manager 85, aterminal rack 95, a terminal control system 100, a data archive server105 and a manifest tool kit 110. In addition, the manifest downloadsystem 50 is in communication with the work allocation system 20 and theother components of the delivery system 10 via the work allocationsystem 20.

The following paragraphs describe the operation of the manifest downloadsystem 50 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Asdescribed above, the portable computing devices 70 carried by thedrivers are stored in a terminal rack 95 when not in use. While storedin the terminal rack 95, the batteries in the devices 70 are rechargedand data is transferred between the portable devices 70 and the othersystems. In a preferred embodiment, the terminal control system 100controls the upload of package data from the portable devices 70 and thedownload of data to the devices 70. In an embodiment of the presentinvention, the type of information downloaded to the portable devices 70while the devices are in the terminal rack 95 include, withoutlimitation, driver profile information (e.g., employee identifier, name,driver type (full-time or helper)), territory data (e.g., informationabout the planned service territory such as address information),consignee information for a specified territory (e.g., special deliveryservices, billing information and customer profiles), portable deviceconfiguration data (e.g., country, language, currency, supportedservices and bar code table rules), scheduled pickup account data and/orcustomized delivery and pickup rules at the shipper and/or consigneelevel.

In a preferred embodiment, the terminal control system 100 resides on aworkstation in a service center and communicates with the portablecomputing devices 70 via an optical communication interface. But one ofordinary skill in the art however will readily recognize that othercommunication interfaces may be used instead of the optical interface,including infrared, cellular and/or wireless.

The data archive system 105 communicates with the terminal controlsystem 100 to receive package data as it is downloaded from the portablecomputing devices 70 at the end of day. Among the package data sent tothe data archive system 105 is a disposition on all manifested packages,including data detailing the manifest work that was completed, workcompleted that was not included in the manifest, and work that wasincluded on the manifest but that was not completed. This work data isthen passed from the data archive server 105 to the manifest tool kit110 where the disposition data is compared against the manifest. Thiscomparison provides an analysis of the accuracy of the manifest data,the decisions made by the driver during the day, and the accuracy ofpackage data received from customers.

A function of the route manager 85 is to serve as an interface betweenthe portable computing devices 70 and the work allocation system 20.FIG. 9 illustrates the route manager 85 communicating with threeportable devices 70 via three different communications interfaces. Oneof ordinary skill in the art will recognize that this figure merelyillustrates that the manifest download system 50 can use a variety ofknown communication interfaces to transmit package and manifest data. Inone case, the route manager 85 is shown communicating directly to aportable device 70 via an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) or opticalport. In a second case, the communication between the route manager 85and a second portable device 70 occurs via an IrDA device connected to alocal area network (LAN). In this example, the portable computing device70 accesses the LAN using an IrDA device connected to a universal serialbus (USB) port of a personal computer or another IrDA device that isconnected to the LAN. The representation in FIG. 9 of the network cloudas a LAN is intended to be illustrative and one of ordinary skill willrecognize that other types of networks that are known in the art can beused with the present invention, including, without limitation, awireless LAN, a wide area network and a wireless wide area network.

In a third case, the communication between the route manager 85 andportable computing device 70 occurs remotely via wireless, cellular,satellite or other known technology for remote data communicationbetween electronic devices. Remote communication between the portablecomputing device 70 and the route manager 85 can occur either directlyor through the LAN. In addition, FIG. 9 also shows the portable device70 as communicating with the work allocation system 20. This is intendedto show that in some embodiments the communication between the manifestgeneration system 85 and the portable devices 70 can bypass the routemanager 85.

Communication between portable computing devices 70 is also shown inFIG. 9. This type of communication between drivers occurs, for example,if work on a first driver manifest is shifted to a second manifestassociated with a second driver. A first driver on a first route mayhave a breakdown of a delivery vehicle and may use the portablecomputing device 70 to notify a monitoring station or other base ofoperations of the breakdown. In response, other drivers in the area mayreceive instructions, either from the monitoring station or from thebroken down driver, requesting that they meet at the site of thebreakdown to redistribute the work (packages in the case of a packagedelivery system) that was originally assigned to the driver that brokedown. In such case, two drivers may place their respective portabledevices 70 in direct contact with one other so that the devices canestablish communication via an IrDA or optical port and thereby allowwork assigned to a manifest in the first device 70 to be transferredelectronically to a manifest in the second device 70.

If the transfer of work between drivers does not require a movement of apackage from a first vehicle to a second vehicle, the portable devices70 may communicate remotely via wireless, cellular or satellitetechnology. Thus, for example, if a first driver is assigned a pickupand due to traffic or other problems cannot complete the pickup, thedriver may transfer the pickup assignment to another driver withoutrequiring that the portable devices 70 be in proximity of one another.These are but a few of the potential situations in which data transferbetween portable computing devices 70 is desirable, and other uses forthis type of communication will be readily apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art.

The following paragraphs describe the operation of the manifest downloadsystem 50 in a package delivery context in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.

At the start of the day, a driver retrieves a portable computing device70 from terminal rack 95. In an embodiment, a partial manifest isdownloaded to the portable device 70 via the terminal control system 100while the device 70 is stored in the terminal rack 95. The pre-loadprocess continues even after the driver removes the portable device 70from the terminal rack 95; therefore, just before leaving to start theroute, the driver points the portable device 70 to an IrDA port of theroute manager 85 to capture the changes that occurred since the lastmanifest update.

FIG. 10 shows a process flow to download a manifest to a portablecomputing device 70 in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. In Step 200, the route manager 85 receives a request from aportable computing device 70 for a manifest and forwards the request tothe work allocation system 20. In Step 210, the work allocation system20 retrieves the requested manifest from a database or other device usedto store manifest data. In Step 220, the work allocation system 20transmits the manifest to the route manager 85. And in Step 230, theroute manager 85 downloads the manifest to the portable computing device70.

In a typical scenario, a driver has the option to re-download and/orupdate the manifest data as often as necessary. In our example above, ifan add/cut is performed after the driver has already downloaded themanifest, he or she can reconnect the portable computing device 70 tothe route manager 85 to capture change. Alternatively, (and as shownbelow) the driver may use the portable computing device 70 to requestadditional manifest updates after the driver has left the pre-load site.

To continue with the above example, the driver obtains the mostup-to-date version of the manifest and leaves the pre-load site to beginhis or her route. Later that day, the carrier receives an emergencyrequest from a customer requesting a package pickup. The address andservice level of the new work is entered into a work allocation system20 (or some other system that is responsible for the distribution of newwork) which matches the new work against the preexisting dispatch planto select the driver that will receive the assignment. The carrier thenestablishes a communications link (via wireless, cellular, satellite orother known remote data transfer technology) with the portable computingdevice 70 associated with the selected driver and updates his or hermanifest with the new assignment.

In a preferred embodiment, the portable computing device 70 isconfigured to use the manifest data to perform several functions,including work transfers, determine next activity and the performactivity function. The work transfer function (described above) isgenerally used to transfer work from one portable computing device 70 toanother.

The next activity function allows a driver to view the next activity tobe performed in the manifest. In delivery systems that are known in theart, a driver is continuously moving in and out of the storage area ofthe package car, constantly reviewing the work that remains to becompleted. A driver's failure to keep a close eye on the remaining workoften results in a missed commit time or the need to backtrack along theroute to deliver a package that was missed. The determine next activityfunction addresses this planning problem by tracking the manifested workand presenting the driver with an ordered plan to complete the work.

In a preferred embodiment, a driver has the ability to view the manifestin a variety of ways. The following paragraphs describe various viewsthat are available to a driver. In one embodiment, a default view of themanifest is to list the work in the sequence that the work is to becompleted in accordance with the dispatch plan that is used to assignthe work. This view is valuable in that it presents a driver with anordered listing of the work assignments for a day and driver candetermine with a glance the next work assignment to be completed. Analternative view that is available to the driver is a listing of thoseunits of work that have a time deadline or commit time by which the workmust be completed. Still another view that is available to a driver is aview of all work associated with a particular location. This is usefulin cases where a driver is delivering to more than one customer at asingle address (or address range) such as a shopping mall or officebuilding. A benefit of having the manifest on the portable computingdevice 70 is that a driver can display a list of every unit of workassociated with a given location with a few keystrokes.

Two other views of the manifest that is available to drivers are thewhole view and a commit time view. When the whole view is used, themanifest is organized by commit and delivery order listing (DOL). DOLorganizes work based on the sequence established by the dispatch planwithout regard to premium service levels. The commit time takes intoaccount that work with a premium service level must be completed on orbefore established commit times. The whole view of the manifest defaultsto the DOL view of the manifest; however, work that has a commit timegains priority in the manifest list as the commit time approaches. Inother words, the manifest display increases the priority of commit timework to notify the service provider that a commit time is approachingand the service provider needs to start considering the work for afuture delivery.

In a preferred embodiment, the determine next activity function of theportable computing device 70 controls the manner in which the manifestis organized in the display. As a particular commit time approaches, thework that must be completed by the approaching time deadline receives ahigher priority in the list of work. In one embodiment, if multiplepackages have the same commit time, the units of work associated withthat common time deadline are sorted by DOL.

In one embodiment, the determine next activity function estimates thelocation of the driver based upon the work already performed and liststhe commit time work that remains to be completed such that the workthat is nearest to the driver's estimated position is listed first.Alternatively, the portable computing device 70 is equipped with aglobal positioning system (GPS) and the actual location of the driver isused rather than an estimate of the driver's location.

A driver also has the option of using a commit time view. The committime view lists only that work on the manifest that has a commit timeand, in a preferred embodiment, the work is organized first by committime and then by DOL. In alternative embodiments, the commit time workis organized first by commit time and then by the work that is closestto the driver's current location, which is either estimated based onwork performed or determined by a GPS device.

Another benefit of having manifest data in the portable computing device70 is the perform activity function. In the context of a packagedelivery system, a driver uses the perform activity function when thedriver delivers or picks up a package. In a preferred embodiment, themanifest of work includes information about the work to be performed andthe customer for whom the work is performed. In the context of adelivery of a package, for example, the manifest includes the name andaddress of the consignee of the package, information about the packageto be delivered and information about the shipper that shipped thepackage. When a driver arrives at the customer site to deliver thepackage, some or all of the relevant information for the delivery of thepackage is already present in the portable computing device 70 in themanifest. The perform activity function uses the delivery information inthe manifest to pre-populate the fields on the portable device 70. Thissaves the driver from having to key enter the name of the packagerecipient and eliminates the keystroke errors that result from manualentry. In a preferred embodiment, the perform activity function alsonotifies the driver if the number of packages delivered does not matchthe number manifested, and, in this way, the perform activity functionserves as an audit to double check the delivery activity.

A typical package delivery performed by a driver with a downloaded intohis or her portable computing device 70 will typically occur as follows.The driver arrives at the site and refers to the manifest to determinewhich packages are to be delivered. The driver uses a bar code scanner,RFID interrogator or similar technology to capture a tracking number orother package identifier from the shipping labels of the packages thatare to be delivered. The portable computing device 70 compares thecaptured package data to the manifest to confirm that the appropriatepackage is being delivered and pre-populates the delivery display withthe relevant customer and package information. In a preferredembodiment, the perform activity function also provides the driver withaccessorial data for the stop, such as whether an adult signature isrequired or whether the work is a cash-on-delivery transaction.

When the delivery is completed, the work disappears from the manifestdisplay. At the end of the day the manifest is cleared and the driverreturns the portable computing device 70 to the terminal rack 95.Disposition information collected throughout the day is then uploaded tothe terminal control system 100 and is passed to the data archive server105 and the manifest tool kit 110. The manifest tool kit 110 comparesthe disposition data against the manifest and provides reports or otherfeedback as to the accuracy of the data on the original manifest, thedecisions made by the driver and the accuracy of information receivedfrom the customers.

The delivery system 10, which comprises an ordered listing of selectableservices can be embodied in any computer-readable medium for use by orin connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, ordevice, such as a computer-based system, processor-containing system, orother system that can fetch the instructions from the instructionexecution system, apparatus, or device and execute the instructions. Inthe context of this document, a “computer-readable medium” can be anymeans that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport theprogram for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device. The computer readable medium can be, forexample but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, device,or propagation medium. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) ofthe computer-readable medium would include the following: an electricalconnection (electronic) having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette (magnetic), a random access memory (RAM) (magnetic), aread-only memory (ROM) (magnetic), an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or Flash memory) (magnetic), an optical fiber (optical),and a portable compact disc read-only memory (CDROM) (optical). Notethat the computer-readable medium could even be paper or anothersuitable medium upon which the program is printed, as the program can beelectronically captured, via for instance optical scanning of the paperor other medium, then compiled, interpreted or otherwise processed in asuitable manner if necessary, and then stored in a computer memory.

Further, any process descriptions or blocks in flow charts should beunderstood as representing modules, segments, or portions of code whichinclude one or more executable instructions for implementing specificlogical functions or steps in the process, and alternate implementationsare included within the scope of the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention in which functions may be executed out of order from thatshown or discussed, including substantially concurrently or in reverseorder, depending on the functionality involved, as would be understoodby those reasonably skilled in the art of the present invention.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent invention, particularly any “preferred embodiments” are merelypossible examples of the implementations, merely set forth for a clearunderstanding of the principles of the invention. Any variations andmodifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of theinvention without departing substantially from the spirit of theprinciples of the invention. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of the disclosure andpresent invention and protected by the following claims.

In concluding the detailed description, it should be noted that it willbe obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations andmodifications can be made to the preferred embodiment withoutsubstantially departing from the principles of the present invention.Also, such variations and modifications are intended to be includedherein within the scope of the present invention as set forth in theappended claims. Further, in the claims hereafter, the structures,materials, acts and equivalents of all means or step-plus functionelements are intended to include any structure, materials or acts forperforming their cited functions.

1. A system for generating a manifest of work in a package deliverysystem, said system comprising: a data capture system comprising a firstdevice configured to capture shipping label data for a plurality ofpackages that are bound to a designated geographic location, saidshipping label data comprising at least one package destination addressand at least one service level; and a work allocation system comprisinga second device that is configured to assign each of said packages toone of a plurality of preexisting delivery routes based at least in parton said shipping label data; wherein: (A) the second device is furtherconfigured to: monitor said assigned packages and to generate a manifestof work for each of said plurality of preexisting delivery routes; andgenerate the manifest to comprise one or more assignments in apredetermined order, wherein at least one of the assignments isassociated with a time for completing delivery of at least one of thepackages; (B) the system further comprises a portable computing devicethat is configured to: facilitate display of the assignments in thepredetermined order, the order comprising a sequential order in whichthe assignments are to be completed; receive said manifest of work in anelectronic format: receive one or more updates to the electronicmanifest from the second device; revise the electronic manifest byadding or removing at least one assignment corresponding to delivery ofone of said packages based on at least one of the updates received; andreposition the at least one assignment higher in the displayedpredetermined order to increase priority in response to determining acurrent time that is within a predetermined time period of the time forcompleting delivery, wherein said portable computing device comprises atiming device configured to track an amount of time remaining before theexpiration of a pending time deadline associated with the assignments,wherein said portable computing device is configured to dynamicallyupdate the manifest by adjusting the position of said assignments insaid predetermined order to meet the timing deadline if the amount oftime remaining is less than a predetermined minimum.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said second device is configured to assign packagesbased at least in part on said package destination address and saidservice level.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein said second device isconfigured to assign said packages to said routes by comparing saiddestination address and said service level against a dispatch plan. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein said second device is configured togenerate the manifest of work to comprise a list of locations and asequence of servicing said locations.
 5. The system of claim 4, whereinsaid second device is configured to generate said sequence of servicingbased on a dispatch plan.
 6. The system of claim 4, wherein saidportable computing device is configured to display said manifest of workin accordance with said sequence of servicing.
 7. The system of claim 1,wherein the portable computing device is configured to receive the atleast one update after the portable computing device leaves a pre-loadfacility.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the portable computingdevice is configured to electronically transfer the work assigned to themanifest to a second manifest on a second portable computing device. 9.The system of claim 1, wherein the second device is configured toassociate each assignment with a delivery location, wherein the portablecomputing device comprises a global positioning system (GPS) configuredto determine a current location of the portable computing device, and inresponse to the portable computing device detecting that the currentlocation is within a predetermined distance from a delivery locationassociated with at least one of the assignments, the portable computingdevice is configured to reposition the at least one assignment higher inthe displayed predetermined order signifying an increased priority. 10.The system of claim 1, wherein: the second device is further configuredto associate each of the one or more assignments with one or morecorresponding delivery locations; the portable computing device isfurther configured to: estimate a current location of the portablecomputing device based at least in part on completion of at least oneassignment; and determine a delivery location, among the deliverylocations, that is nearest to the current location; reposition anassignment higher in the displayed predetermined order signifying anincreased priority in response to detecting that the determined deliverylocation corresponds to the assignment.
 11. A package delivery systemthat generates a manifest for each of a plurality of preexisting routesand downloads said manifest to a plurality of portable computingdevices, said delivery system comprising: a data capture systemcomprising a first device configured to capture shipping label data froma plurality of packages, the shipping label data comprising at least onepackage destination address and at least one service level; a workallocation system comprising a second device configured to assign eachof said plurality of packages to one of said preexisting routes based atleast in part on said shipping label data, wherein: (A) the seconddevice is configured to: generate said manifest for each of saidplurality of preexisting delivery routes, wherein said manifest includesa list of packages that have been assigned to one of said preexistingdelivery routes; and generate the manifest to comprise one or moreassignments in a predetermined order, wherein at least one of theassignments is associated with a time for completing delivery of atleast one of the packages; a route manager device that is configured todownload said manifest to at least one of said portable computing deviceassociated with said one of said preexisting delivery routes; (B) theportable computing device is configured to: facilitate display of theassignments in the predetermined order, the order comprising asequential order in which the assignments are to be completed; receiveone or more updates to said manifest from the second device; use atleast one of the updates to add a new assignment to the manifestcorresponding to delivery of one of said packages, or to remove at leastone assignment from the manifest corresponding to delivery of one ofsaid packages; and reposition the at least one assignment higher in thedisplayed predetermined order to increase priority in response todetermining a current time that is within a predetermined time period ofthe time for completing delivery, wherein said portable computing devicecomprises a timing device configured to track an amount of timeremaining before the expiration of a pending time deadline associatedwith the assignments, wherein said portable computing device isconfigured to dynamically update the manifest by adjusting the positionof said assignments in said predetermined order to meet the timingdeadline if the amount of time remaining is less than a predeterminedminimum.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein said second device isconfigured to assign said packages to one of said preexisting deliveryroutes based at least in part on said package destination address. 13.The system of claim 11, wherein said second device is configured toassign said packages to one of said preexisting delivery routes based atleast in part on said package destination address and said servicelevel.
 14. The system of claim 11, wherein said first device isconfigured to capture the shipping label data further comprising atarget delivery time, and said second device is configured to assignsaid packages to one of said preexisting delivery routes based at leastin part on said package destination address and said target deliverytime.
 15. The system of claim 11, wherein the portable computing deviceis configured to receive the at least one update after the portablecomputing device leaves a pre-load facility.
 16. The system of claim 11,wherein the portable computing device is configured to electronicallytransfer the work assigned to the manifest to a second manifest on asecond portable computing device.
 17. The system of claim 11, whereinthe second device is configured to associate each assignment with adelivery location, wherein the portable computing device comprises aglobal positioning system (GPS) configured to determine a currentlocation of the portable computing device, and in response to theportable computing device detecting that the current location is withina predetermined distance from a delivery location associated with atleast one of the assignments, the portable computing device isconfigured to reposition the at least one assignment higher in thedisplayed predetermined order signifying an increased priority.
 18. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein: the second device is further configured toassociate each of the one or more assignments with one or morecorresponding delivery locations; the portable computing device isfurther configured to: estimate a current location of the portablecomputing device based at least in part on completion of at least oneassignment; and determine a delivery location, among the deliverylocations, that is nearest to the current location; reposition anassignment higher in the displayed predetermined order signifying anincreased priority in response to detecting that the determined deliverylocation corresponds to the assignment.
 19. A system for generating amanifest that lists one or more units of work that are scheduled to becompleted on a preexisting route for a given day, said systemcomprising: (A) a data capture system comprising a first device that isconfigured to identify locations where said one or more units of workare to be completed, said locations specified in shipping label datacomprising at least one service level; (B) a work allocation systemcomprising a second device that is configured to assign each of saidunits of work to one of a plurality of preexisting routes based at leastin part on said identified locations; wherein the second device isfurther configured to: monitor said assigned units of work and generatesaid manifest for each of said plurality of preexisting routes; andgenerate the manifest to comprise one or more assignments in apredetermined order, wherein at least one of the assignments isassociated with a time for completing delivery of at least one of saidunits of work; (C) a portable computing device associated with one ormore of said plurality of preexisting routes, said portable computingdevice being configured to: facilitate display of the assignments in thepredetermined order, the order comprising a sequential order in whichthe assignments are to be completed; receive said manifest in anelectronic format; receive one or more updates to the electronicmanifest from the second device; use at least one of the updates to adda new assignment to the electronic manifest corresponding to one of saidunits of work, or to remove at least one assignment from the electronicmanifest corresponding to one of said units of work; and reposition theat least one assignment higher in the displayed predetermined order toincrease priority in response to determining a current time that iswithin a predetermined time period of the time for completing delivery,wherein said portable computing device comprises a timing deviceconfigured to track an amount of time remaining before the expiration ofa pending time deadline associated with the assignments, wherein saidportable computing device is configured to dynamically update themanifest by adjusting the position of said assignments in saidpredetermined order to meet the timing deadline if the amount of timeremaining is less than a predetermined minimum.
 20. The system of claim19, further comprising a route manager device configured to control adownload of said manifest to said portable computing device.
 21. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein said portable computing device is furtherconfigured to receive said manifest via wireless transmission.
 22. Thesystem of claim 19, wherein said portable computing device is furtherconfigured to receive said manifest via an Infrared Data Association(IrDA) interface.
 23. The system of claim 19, wherein said portablecomputing device is configured to display said manifest to a user. 24.The system of claim 23, wherein said portable computing device isconfigured to display said units of work in a sequence that said unitsof work are to be completed in accordance with said preexisting route.25. The system of claim 19, wherein said portable computing deviceincludes a microprocessor, a memory, a display, an input device, aninput-output (I/O) interface and a clock.
 26. The system of claim 19,wherein the portable computing device is configured to receive the atleast one update after the portable computing device leaves a pre-loadfacility.
 27. The system of claim 19, wherein the portable computingdevice is configured to electronically transfer the work assigned to themanifest to a second manifest on a second portable computing device. 28.The system of claim 19, wherein the second device is configured toassociate each assignment with a delivery location, wherein the portablecomputing device comprises a global positioning system (GPS) configuredto determine a current location of the portable computing device, and inresponse to the portable computing device detecting that the currentlocation is within a predetermined distance from a delivery locationassociated with at least one of the assignments, the portable computingdevice is configured to reposition the at least one assignment higher inthe displayed predetermined order signifying an increased priority. 29.The system of claim 19, wherein: the second device is further configuredto associate each of the one or more assignments with one or morecorresponding delivery locations; the portable computing device isfurther configured to: estimate a current location of the portablecomputing device based at least in part on completion of at least oneassignment; and determine a delivery location, among the deliverylocations, that is nearest to the current location; reposition anassignment higher in the displayed predetermined order signifying anincreased priority in response to detecting that the determined deliverylocation corresponds to the assignment.
 30. A system for generating amanifest comprising: (A) a data capture system comprising a first deviceconfigured to identify a plurality of locations where units of work areto be completed, said locations specified in shipping label datacomprising at least one service level; (B) a work allocation systemcomprising a second device configured to assign each of said units ofwork to one of a plurality of preexisting routes based at least in parton said identified location of said unit of work, wherein each of saidpreexisting routes lists a plurality of locations in a geographic areaand a predefined order to service said locations, wherein said seconddevice is further configured to: monitor said assigned units of work andto generate a manifest for each of said plurality of preexisting routes,and wherein each manifest lists units of work to be completed on one ofsaid plurality of preexisting routes; and generate the manifest tocomprise one or more assignments in a predetermined order, wherein atleast one of the assignments is associated with a time for completingdelivery of the units of work; (C) a portable computing deviceassociated with each of said preexisting routes configured to:facilitate display of the assignments in the predetermined order, theorder comprises a sequential order in which the assignments are to becompleted; receive said manifest in an electronic format for saidpreexisting route to which said portable computing device is associated;receive one or more updates to the electronic manifest from the seconddevice; use at least one of the updates to add a new assignment to theelectronic manifest corresponding to one of said units of work, or toremove at least one assignment from the electronic manifestcorresponding to one of said units of work; and reposition the at leastone assignment higher in the displayed predetermined order to increasepriority in response to determining a current time that is within apredetermined time period of the time for completing delivery, whereinsaid portable computing device comprises a timing device configured totrack an amount of time remaining before the expiration of a pendingtime deadline associated with one or more of said units of work, whereinsaid portable computing device is configured to dynamically update theelectronic manifest by adjusting the position of said one or more ofsaid units of work in said predetermined order to meet the timingdeadline if the amount of time remaining is less than a predeterminedminimum.
 31. The system of claim 30, wherein the second device isconfigured to assign a time deadline for completing a unit of workassociated with one or more of said units of work.
 32. The system ofclaim 31, wherein said portable computing device is configured todynamically update the electronic manifest by adjusting saidpredetermined order to meet one or more of said time deadlines.
 33. Thesystem of claim 30, wherein said portable computing device comprises atiming device that is configured to determine said current time.
 34. Thesystem of claim 33, wherein said portable computing device is configuredto dynamically update the electronic manifest by repositioning a unit ofwork higher in said predetermined order if said unit of work has anassociated time deadline and said time deadline is within apredetermined range of said current time.
 35. The system of claim 30,wherein said portable computing device is configured to analyze saidmanifest and to display a next unit of work to be completed inaccordance with said predetermined order.
 36. The system of claim 30,wherein said portable computing device is configured to update saidmanifest in response to an addition of a new unit of work or a change toan existing unit of work.
 37. The system of claim 30, wherein saidportable computing device comprises a wireless device through which saidportable computing device is configured to receive updates to saidelectronic manifest.
 38. The system of claim 30, wherein said portablecomputing device comprises an Infrared Data Association (IrDA) interfacethrough which said portable computing device is configured to receiveupdates to said electronic manifest.
 39. The system of claim 30, whereinthe portable computing device is configured to receive the at least oneupdate after the portable computing device leaves a pre-load facility.40. The system of claim 30, wherein the portable computing device isconfigured to electronically transfer the work assigned to the manifestto a second manifest on a second portable computing device.
 41. Thesystem of claim 30, wherein the second device is configured to associateeach assignment with a delivery location, wherein the portable computingdevice comprises a global positioning system (GPS) configured todetermine a current location of the portable computing device, and inresponse to the portable computing device detecting that the currentlocation is within a predetermined distance from a delivery location ofat least one of the assignments, the portable computing device isconfigured to reposition the at least one assignment higher in thedisplayed predetermined order signifying an increased priority.
 42. Thesystem of claim 30, wherein the portable computing device is configuredto notify the user if the number of packages delivered at a currentlocation does not equal the number of packages manifested for deliveryat the current location.
 43. The system of claim 30, wherein saidportable computing device is configured to analyze said manifest and todisplay a list of units of work to be completed at a current location ofthe portable computing device.
 44. The system of claim 30, wherein: thesecond device is further configured to associate each of the one or moreassignments with one or more corresponding delivery locations; theportable computing device is further configured to: estimate a currentlocation of the portable computing device based at least in part oncompletion of at least one assignment; and determine a deliverylocation, among the delivery locations, that is nearest to the currentlocation; reposition an assignment higher in the displayed predeterminedorder signifying an increased priority in response to detecting that thedetermined delivery location corresponds to the assignment.